394 



NATURE 



[July i8, 1918 



intensity of the hydrogen lines has been partially com- 

 pensated by increased intensity of the nebular lines. 



An account of photographs taken at Meudon on 

 June 12 and 15 has been given by Mr. J. Bosler 

 (Comptes rendus, June 24). In addition to the whole 

 series of hydrogen lines, there were bright lines 'at 

 592, 588, 569, 532, 518, 502, 493, and 465, and fainter 

 lines at 648, 638, 555, and 454. The bright lines 

 varied in breadth from 30 to 60 A., and were accom- 

 panied by the usual dark lines on their more re- 

 frangible sides; if interpreted in terms of motion, the 

 displacements would indicate a relative velocity of 

 2300 km. per second, or about 25 times that observed 

 in any previous nova. Dark lines, apparently with- 

 out bright companions, occurred at 461, 421, 38q, and 

 3934 (K). 



The new line noted by Mr. Phillips on July 4 was 

 about 407, as in Nova Persei on March 21 and 27, 

 1901 ; the position previously given was erroneous. 



Photographs obtained by Mr. Phillips on July 12 

 and 13 show a well-defined line on the red side of H^' 

 which is doubtless the above-mentioned nebular line 

 4363. The band at 468 has also been noted in recent 

 plates. 



Father Cortie sends the following notes on recent 

 photographs :— " On July 13 a photograph of the spec- 

 trum showed that each ot the hydrogen bands Hg to 

 H^ contained a central brighter region in which were 

 two bright lines. Each band was about 50 Angstrom 

 units in breadth.- The bright region at wave-length 

 4640, extended altogether over 160 angstroms, and 

 consisted of two broad bright bands, in continuous 

 spectrum. On June 30 this bright region had a 

 breadth of qo Angstrom units, and on July 8 of 

 no units. There was a second bright band beginning 

 at A 4523, and extending over more than 50 units. 

 The visual spectrum showed H^ very bright, and 

 probably just doubled, D bright, and a continuous 

 patch of colour in the green. 



" In the photographs of June 29 and 30 the 4640 

 band was doubled, the more refrangible component 

 being the brighter. The same is true of Hy. Ort 

 July 13, in the 4-In. finder, for a .few moments the 

 star itself seemed to be double, the cornpanion just 

 preceding the brighter star in right ascension. This 

 may be an illusion, but is noted in case any other 

 observer has seen the star double." 



A New Variable Star in Auriga. — By comparison 

 of photographs taken with a 4-4-in. portrait lens 

 towards the end of 1905, Mr. A. Stanley Williams 

 detected a star of varying magnitude situated in 

 Auriga, and he has since then accumulated sufinicient 

 visual observations to establish the character of the 

 light-curve (Monthlv Notices, R.A.S., vol. Ixxviii., 

 p. 483). The position of the star for 1900 is R.A. 

 5h. 8m. 27s., decl. +39° 57-5'. The discussion of the 

 observations shows that the variation is of the 

 Cepheid type, and the period 18-3563 days. The 

 magnitude ranges from 10-04 ^^ maximum to 10-79 ^^ 

 minimum, and the interval from minimum to maxi- 

 mum is 7-0 days. 



A 



FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS OF 

 PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE. 



JOINT session of the Aristotelian Society, the 

 British Ps3fchological Society, and the Mind 

 Association was held in London on July 5-8. The 

 aim of this session, which has now been held for 

 several years, is to endeavour to bring together the 

 actual workers in mental and neurological science and 

 those engaged in purely philosophical research tor the 

 discussion of fundamental problems. The subjects 

 discussed included problems of mathematics and 



NO. 2542, VOL. lOl] 



physics, of physiology and biology, of practical psycho- 

 logy, and of pure metaphysics. 



Lord Haldane presided at the opening meeting, 

 when Prof. Alexander expounded a new philo- 

 sophical theory of space and time. ' His theory is 

 that ther2 is one primitive entity, the matrix or stuff 

 of existence, space-time, and that all forms of mind 

 and matter are complications of it. In the discussion 

 Prof. Whitehead criticised it from the point of view of 

 mathematical physics, and Prof. Pringle-Pattison from 

 that of philosophy. 



Prof. Wildon Ca'rr presided at the discussion of the 

 symposium "Are Physical, Biological, and Psycho- 

 logical Categories Irreducible?" The contributors 

 were Dr. J. S. Haldane, Prof. D'Arcv Thompson, 

 Dr. Chalmers Mitchell, and Prof. L. t. Hobhouse. 

 The discussion proved of exceptional interest in the 

 number of illustrations from applied science which 

 were brought to bear on the question.. The main 

 problem was the adequacy of mechanistic interpreta- 

 tion as used in physics when applied to the higher 

 spheres of life and mind. The opposing views were 

 represented by Dr. Haldane and Prof. D'Arcy 

 Thompson. Prof. Whitehead, Prof. Nicholson, and 

 Mr. Brierley contributed valuable accounts of experi- 

 ments in their respective sciences, and Dr. Schiller, 

 Lord Haldane, and others discussed the relation of 

 the problem to philosophy. 



Dr. C. S. Myers presfded at the symposium "Why 

 is 'the Unconscious' Unconscious?" bv Dr. Maurice 

 Nicoll, Dr. W. H. R. Rivers, and Dr.' Ernest, Jones. 

 The discission was notable as emphasising a distinct 

 change which seems to be manifesting itself in the 

 theory and practice of psychoanalysis. Many of the 

 distinctive features of Freud's original statement, 

 e.g. the endo-psychic censor, seem to be vanishing 

 into the background. There was remarkable 

 unanimity in most of the speakers in regarding " the 

 unconscious " as not simply a force resisting inhibi- 

 tion and baneful in its effect, but as essentially and 

 primarily a force to be identified with the spring of 

 life itself. Besides the three contributors to the sym- 

 posium, the chairman and Dr. McDougall, Dr. 

 Mitchell, Dr. Crighton Miller, Dr. Constance Long, 

 Dr. Goldsbrough, Mr. Flugel, and Prof. Wildon Carr 

 took part. 



The largest attendance was at the meeting on 

 Sunday afternoon, when Mr. A. J. Balfour presided 

 at the discussion of the symposium " Do Finite Indi- 

 viduals Possess a Substantive or an Adjectival Mode 

 of Being?" The contributors were Prof. Bernard 

 Bosanquet. Prof. Pringle-Pattison, Prof. G. F. Stout, 

 and Lord Haldane. In the discussion Prof. Bosanquet 

 defended with noticeable earnestness the view which 

 is identified with the philosophy of Mr. Bradlev and 

 himself, the view that the ultimate subject of pre- 

 dication is one and universal, that reality is the abso- 

 lute. He was opposed by Prof. Pringle-iPattison, who 

 acknowledged, however, a wide ground of common 

 agreement. A more decided opposition came from 

 Prof. Alexander. Lord Haldane, in a very clear sum- 

 mary of the two views, held that the real crux of the 

 problem lay in the antithesis between the concepts 

 of substance and subject, and suggested that the 

 solution is the doctrine of degrees of truth and realitv. 

 Prof. Whitehead expressed the point in dispute with 

 mathematical precision in his question addressed to all 

 the disputants, " Is there any substantive existence of a 

 relatum which is independent of all or anv relation? " 



The final meeting was presided over by Prof. Wildon 

 Carr. Two short communications, the first on "The 

 Philosophical Importance of the Verb 'To Be,'" by 

 Miss L. S. Stebbing, the second on "The Summation 

 of Pleasures," by Miss Dorothy Wrinch. both called 

 forth an animated and interesting discussion. 



